


Act Two

by Taurenova (JenNova)



Series: Words Will Bring Us Together [2]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Canon Blending, Canon Character of Color, Ensemble Cast, Epistolary, Matchmaking, Multi, Post-Canon, X-Men First Class Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-07-22
Updated: 2011-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-21 15:34:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenNova/pseuds/Taurenova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Through words they all try to rebuild what was lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Still a work in progress.

**i.**

 _Raven,_

 _I guess now that you know about Cerebro we can mention Ali and Ororo in letters. Which is good because I know you’d find Sean’s crush on Ali as funny as I do. They’re pretty much the same age so it’s better than the thing with Moira, or Angel, or you, but it’s way funnier. Ororo is the youngest now, she’s only twelve, an orphan, but she probably talks the most. She spends a lot of time with Charles ~~because indoor thunderstorms are uncool~~ talking about her power._

 _I think you’d like both of them. ~~They’d probably like you too~~ They call Charles Prof X and Professor and I hear it so often that I’m starting to do it too. You’d love how embarrassed it makes him._

 _He’s been happy, recently, which is surprising because we all assumed that ~~when Erik didn’t come back~~ ~~he wouldn’t be after seeing Erik~~ \- it’s just weird. Good, though, we were tired of the headaches. ~~This thing with Erik is way intense, isn’t it?~~_

 _Hank told me he wrote to you about Darwin. I’m – I blamed myself, for what happened to him, but he won’t let me take any responsibility. I know! It was my energy Shaw used, how can Darwin not blame me? ~~How can he still look at me like~~_

 _Speaking of Darwin – he’s written a letter for you too. His handwriting’s not too great right now – he’s getting used to having hands again. He doesn’t really talk about what happened to him or why we found him like we did. ~~I hope he can tell me one~~_

 _Take care of ~~Erik, I think Charles would go mad if~~ yourself. Hank worries._

 _Alex_

 _Raven,_

 _When I heard that everyone else was writing to you I asked Alex to put this letter in with his next one. I can’t believe what’s happened while I’ve been gone. ~~How the hell did it get this bad?~~_

 _I wanted to say that it was cold, what they told me you did, but then I realised – Erik always got you better than any of us, didn’t he? Hank thought he did but for all that guy is smart he is terrible at people. So I get it, I do, I just don’t know if it was the best thing in the world._

 _Charles kept talking to me when he didn’t realise I could hear. Things were – weird, after Shaw hit me with Alex’s stuff, and I don’t really remember a lot of it but I do remember Charles’s voice. I think it might’ve been what brought me back._

 _He mostly talked about you. You and Erik. I think he was jealous of you for leaving with Erik – I think he wanted it a lot more than he could ever let on, even to himself. I guess all that optimism is more of a burden than you’d think._

 _I’m not going to ask you to be careful, because I know you can take care of yourself, but I am going to ask you to take care of Erik. You got to hold him back, Raven, or he’ll lose himself._

 _ ~~Tell Angel I~~ ~~Ask Angel if I can~~ I’m going to write to Angel when I can – will you pass it on to her?_

 _Darwin_

Paris is as beautiful as Mystique remembers it. Charles had taken her there for a weekend when he was accepted to Oxford and they’d both been completely charmed. The Hellfire Club in Paris is one of the first, an 18th century building so opulent that even Charles would be uncomfortable there. For this reason Mystique spends most of her time up on the roof, in amongst disused pigeon coops, where she doesn’t feel so awkward.

It’s the perfect hiding place because Emma won’t come up here without three layers of protective clothing. Angel, on the other hand, declares that she’s been in worse places in her life and joins Mystique most days, practicing with her mostly healed wing. Mystique knows that Magneto is scheming, and eventually he’ll tell her what he’s planning, but for now she just wants to stay out of all of it. The Hellfire Club is creepy.

“Penny for them,” Angel says, dropping down beside Mystique. Mystique folds the letters away.

“Darwin says he’s going to write to you,” she says. Angel stills.

“Why do you think he’d do that?” Angel asks, drawing shapes in the dirt with the two of her boot. “None of the others have.”

“I don’t know,” Mystique says honestly. “But I think the others don’t write because they don’t think you’d want to hear from them. When I left –”

“What?” Angel asks when the pause goes on too long. “What, Mystique?”

“When I left they were all still really freaked out about you going with Shaw,” Mystique says slowly, not looking at Angel.

“Oh,” Angel says, her voice quiet.

“We didn’t understand why,” Mystique continues. “I still don’t, really. Magneto, yes, but not Shaw.”

“They’ve got more in common than you think,” Angel says, barely audible.

“He was evil,” Mystique says. It’s one of the few things she’s certain of.

“Yeah, he probably was,” Angel admits, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. “But Charles and Magneto – they took me from one place I was stared at to another. I never felt dirty at the club – but the CIA made me feel –”

“What?” Mystique asks when Angel’s pause spreads between them.

“Like an animal – for them to poke and pry at,” Angel rubs her hands up her legs. “I thought Shaw offered an alternative.”

“Thought?” Mystique asks, turning to fix her eyes on Angel. Angel stares down at her knees.

“He was a bastard,” Angel says, shrugging. “He’d say anything to get what he wanted. He didn’t want to make the world better for us – just wanted to make it better for him.”

“Then why did you stay?” Mystique shifts around to face Angel properly, crossing her legs.

“I don’t know,” Angel says, tilting her head to look at Mystique. “There was something about him. I think we was, I don't know, trying to make me _into_ something. Or maybe Emma –” Angel wiggles her fingers by her head in a fashion that reminds Mystique painfully of Charles, “whatever it was – I’m glad Er-Magneto killed him.”

Mystique makes a non-committal noise. Months on and she still doesn’t really know how she feels about Magneto killing Shaw. She knows why he did it, and knows that she would’ve done the same thing in his place, but it seems like that was the catalyst for him and Charles falling apart. She agrees with Beast when he says they’ll tear the world apart because of each other.

She still doesn’t know how to fix it, just knows the she does – before it’s too late.

 **ii.** _A collection of newspaper cuttings, found amongst Charles Francis Xavier’s effects, with commentary in what appears to be the hand of Erik Lehnsherr._

 _From the New York Times:_

Anti-mutant protests took a turn towards violence yesterday when multiple suspected mutants were chased out of their homes in Hell’s Kitchen. Several fires were started that resulted in much of the area being cordoned off

Reasons given for the suspicions of mutantity were thin and the NYPD were quick to condemn the actions – asking people to report suspicions of mutantity to them in future and not to take the law into their own hands.

Lawmakers in the city are debating the merits of anti-mutant laws – though it remains to be seen how evolution can be legislated against.

 _Anti-mutant laws, Charles. They’re attempting to make our very existence illegal. How can you condone such an act through your own inaction?_

 _From The Guardian:_

While the vast majority of anti-mutant sentiment appears to be located in the United States of America and the USSR it is time for the British people to ask themselves how they feel about this shift in society.

The British National Party has already issued several statements about the perceived threat to humanity these people represent. The explosive events in New York last year have provided impetus to a movement that was already gaining momentum.

When reached for comment Professor Charles Xavier, recently of Oxford and one of the world’s leading experts on mutation, offered this statement: “Mutation occurring in this manner is no unusual circumstance. It was Homo Sapien’s mutations that allowed it to grow into the dominant form of life on the planet.

“This is simply the natural progression of humanity. Mutants should not be viewed as enemies or as a separate race – they are simple the next step in the long process of evolution. You should no more fear or hate them than you should the sun.”

A recent demonstration for mutant rights was disrupted by suspected anarchists, resulting in the discovery of several mutants amongst prominent members of British society. Most notable was Elizabeth Braddock, daughter of Sir James Braddock, who has not been seen since. This has sparked reactionary comments by several out-spoken right-wing activists asking how far mutants have penetrated -

 _Even in articles purporting to be ‘on our side’ and they use language which distances themselves from us. Makes us other. ~~And you are no better, it seems.~~ Your unwillingness to identify yourself in this situation disappoints me, Charles._

 _From the London Times:_

Chaotic scenes were reported in Beijing, capital of China, on Wednesday. Details are being restricted by the Communist Party but it is believed that an action to evict a suspected dangerous mutant resulted in multiple deaths.

It is uncertain whether the deaths were caused by the mutant or by the military but eyewitness reports of tremendous destruction does suggest some capacity beyond that of the army.

Multiple explosions were reported apparently “unlike anything a conventional weapon could produce” and utilities were disrupted over a large area.

Thought little else is known one conclusion can be drawn – this will add fuel to an already raging debate. An emergency session of the UN is to be called later today -

 _Again! We defend ourselves and receive all the blame. Someone has to bend, Charles, and I’ll be damned if it’s me._

 **iii.**

 _Beast,_

 _Charles isn’t going to like what Magneto is about to do. I shouldn’t even be warning you this much – but you must understand: they’re killing our people, Beast, and Magento’s watched it happen before._

 _He’s not going to let it happen again._

 _Mystique_

When Hank finds Charles he learns that Raven’s warning has come too late.

 **iv.** _Unsent letter found in Erik Lehnsherr’s personal copy of On the Origin of the Species._

Charles

I find myself again with the urge to explain myself to you. This is becoming a pattern I wish I could prevent myself from repeating. I know you have seen the papers – I know there is no way you can be unaware of what is happening to mutants all over the world. The articles I am sending are but highlights of the dangers we are facing simply by daring to breathe the same air as humanity.

 ~~Why can’t you see that this will never change?~~

I am sure that not even your optimism can surmount this. This is a war that you did not look for but it has been declared upon you anyway and still you do nothing. What would they have to do to you to make you understand that I am right? Do you truly believe you can keep the school a secret? You are inviting investigation simply by participating in a debate. A debate in which you are _lying_.

 ~~Why is it I find my words always flow easier when I am at the ragged edge of the point between rage and serenity?~~ ~~What is it that you are capable of doing to me~~ ~~Why must we~~

They will come for you, when they realise, they will come for you and ~~I hate the thought of you unprotected~~ I know that you are more capable than many of the mutants we have met but even you will surely be no match for an army.

What I do next I do for you, Charles, though I know you will not accept it for what it is. A call to arms is all we have. ~~I will not allow them to harm~~

 ~~Forgive me.~~ ~~Do not hate me, I could not bear it~~ You will understand one day, I am sure of it.

 **v.** _Found nailed to the doors of the UN building in New York, the Capitol building in DC, the Houses of Parliament in London, the Kremlin in Moscow and many other parliamentary buildings around the world. Later known as the “Three M Manifesto”_

Mutatis Mutandis  
A Manifesto

This is a warning and a promise. The rule of Homo Sapien is drawing to an end, the future of humanity lies in the hands of Homo Superior.

Your world was not saved from nuclear annihilation by human diplomacy – it was saved by mutant intervention.

It was we who stood between you and your own stupidity, we who cast your missiles harmless into the sea, we who punished the architects of the conflict. Yet you come against as enemies when you should thank us on bended knee.

You are the ones who have brought this upon yourselves – since we revealed ourselves to you you have treated us as sub-human, to be studied and manipulated to your ends.

The unprovoked attacks in New York, London and Beijing must be perceived as nothing more than a declaration of war. A message to our kind that we are not worthy of life.

This we will not allow. We are the future and you are the past and if you will not accept this of your own free will then we will make you accept it.

For each attack against us there will be an attack against you.

For each of our deaths there will be ten of yours.

For each of our wounded there will be hundreds of yours.

We will not be silenced, we will not be placid, we will be heard, from one end of the word to the other, _we will be heard_.

We will walk the earth with pride and we shall not fear death at the hands of humanity.

We are the Brotherhood of Mutants.

I am our vengeance.

Magneto

\--

Charles stares fixedly at the photograph on the front page of the New York times and for a long moment Hank worries that Charles has slipped into a fugue state.

“Oh, _Erik_ ,” Charles says, breaking the fragile silence in the room. “What have you begun?”


	2. Part Two

**vi.**

 _ ~~Dear~~ ~~To~~ Hey, Angel,_

 _It’s Darwin. Which, sure, you probably already know if ~~Raven~~ Mystique told you I was going to write to you. I wanted to apologise. It probably sounds strange ~~Alex thinks I’m stupid~~ but I’ve had a lot of time to think ~~since Shaw blew me up~~. Couldn’t do anything but think once I came back together ~~and then when I trapped myself~~ and you were something I thought about._

 _I figured it out, you see, ~~why you might want to go with Shaw and~~ how wrong it was for me to try and stop you the way I did – making the decision for you. It went pretty bad for me, though, so I think I can say I learned my lesson._

 _Alex told me he messed up one of your wings – I think he ~~actually~~ feels pretty bad about it ~~he’s got this whole thing about hurting people~~ on top of blaming himself for my death. He’s been a huge ball of guilt for a while, Xavier says._

 _I don’t really know what I’m trying to do with this letter. I suppose – we were friends once, almost, all of us and I’m hoping we can be friends in the future ~~even if we are on different sides~~ ~~if we can’t then there’s no hope for Xavier and Erik~~. I’m sorry about what I did and Alex’s sorry he hurt you. ~~I hope Shaw didn’t do~~ I hope you’re taking care of each other. ~~I didn’t like the look of the tornado guy~~_

 _Darwin_

Angel feels like she can breathe for the first time in months when she finishes Darwin’s letter. She doesn’t know what it is exactly – it just feels like a weight has been lifted from her chest. She had, she realises, in a way, blamed herself a little for Darwin’s death. If she hadn’t been so selfish –

No. She’d told herself, laying awake on Shaw’s submarine, it wasn’t being selfish. It was about doing something for herself. She had thought Shaw wanted them, for themselves, to make the world better, better for mutants, but she should’ve listened to Magneto, _Erik_ then, and what he’d said about Shaw.

He’d been exactly like one of her johns, it took her too long to realise, just seeing the wings on her back (the way the johns just saw her body) – not her – just as bad as Xavier and Magneto had been at the start.

(She’d tried bad-mouthing Xavier when Magneto took over – one pained glare had been enough to suggest that was a bad idea, a shake of Mystique’s head had been the confirmation.)

Shaw had had a way of looking at her that made her feel like she was being dressed up for someone else’s role. Angel was good at role-playing. She played along with Shaw’s indiscreet touches and loaded looks, let him imagine her as his Black Queen, and knew that he’d already lost. He didn’t have one tenth of Magneto’s charisma and fervour, of Xavier’s optimism and power.

A noise startles her and she hides the letter in a pocket, knowing it isn’t Mystique by the very existence of the noise; she doesn’t make a sound when she walks now, bare blue feet almost caressing the ground with a dancer’s grace. No-one else normally comes up to the roof, Magneto preferring to brood in his room, and Angel resists the urge to take flight. She really can’t face Emma today.

“Angel? Are you here?” Elixir asks, his footsteps scuffing along the roof toward her. Angel relaxes.

“Sure, golden boy,” she says, moving around the corner to face him. It’s a shame his golden skin doesn’t show a blush because Angel suspects he’d be adorable when he’s embarrassed.

“Uh, hi,” Elixir shuffles his feet, hands in the pockets of the pants Emma bought. ( _“I won’t have jeans in the club, darling, we have a dress code for a reason.”_ )

“What can I do for you?” Angel asks, folding her arms and leaning against the coop beside her.

“Actually – I think I can do something for you,” Elixir says, looking somewhere over her shoulder. No, _at_ her shoulder.

“Thanks, kid,” Elixir is only five years younger than her, “but I’m all healed up.”

“But you’re not, really,” Elixir says, finally focusing his eyes on her face. “I saw you flying the other day and the wing you injured doesn’t move right.”

Angel thinks of correcting him, snapping something waspish like ‘it was injured for me’, but Elixir has enough to deal with (mutant hating parents, Magneto’s heavy expectations, Emma’s derision) and it wouldn’t be fair.

“I haven’t noticed anything,” she says instead, shrugging a shoulder.

“Well, no offence meant, but you wouldn’t,” Elixir says, shaking his head. “You can’t see yourself.”

“You think you can fix whatever you think is wrong with me?” Angel asks, something unexpectedly bitter in her tone. Elixir flinches.

“I just – I thought it might help,” he says, looking down and away. “It might make you feel better.”

Angel’s glad he’s looking away, she’s fairly certain the face she’s making right now is betraying her. She unfolds her arms and steps forward.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” she says, shrugging her jacket off her shoulders. Elixir looks up with the sort of smile that doesn’t belong here. _You shouldn’t be with us_ , she thinks. Elixir should be with Xavier.

“Cool,” Elixir says, stepping forward to meet her. Angel turns around and pulls her hair out of the way, letting her wings unfurl lazily. She shivers slightly as her arms pimple in the cold, Paris in February is colder than she’d expected.

“It’s just here, I think,” Elixir’s fingers touch briefly to the point where her ‘healed’ wing joins its twin. Angel surprises herself by wincing.

“Told you so,” Elixir says. Angel snorts.

“No-one likes a show-off, Elixir,” Angel says over her shoulder.

“Um,” Elixir says, hands moving away for a moment. “Could you - just when Magneto isn’t around - could you call me Josh?”

“Yeah, sure,” Angel says, thinking about the decisions people make for other people. Elix– Josh’s hands go back to her wing and she feels – it’s the strangest thing she’s ever felt; like the material that makes up her wing, muscle and sinew, is heating up, shifting under Josh’s careful touch. After a moment it subsides, leaving Angel feeling more whole than she has since Cuba.

“Better?” Josh asks. Angel steps away from him and turns again, shaking her wings out before revving them up enough to get herself in the air.

“Guess you were right,” she says, smiling involuntarily. She really had thought she was healed but this, this is more like it. She shoots up into the air and spins, spreading her arms out to counter-balance. She’s laughing when she comes down and Josh is smiling at her.

“You have a pretty laugh,” Josh says before looking completely horrified at himself. _This is where he would blush_ , Angel thinks. She reaches out and squeezes his arm, stooping to pick up her jacket as she pulls her wings in,

“What are you doing here?” Angel asks, putting her jacket back on.

“You know – Magneto –” Josh starts and Angel raises a hand.

“No, I mean, you’re better than us – better than Magneto’s Brotherhood of Broken Mutants,” Angel shakes her head, the bitterness is back. “You’ve met Professor Xavier – you must realise you’d fit in with them.”

“I – I probably would,” Josh admits. “I don’t really – agree – with everything Magneto says and does but I –”

Josh stops and runs a hand through his hair, looks around nervously and leans close. Angel mirrors his action, minus the hair, without thinking.

“I saw them, Magneto and Xavier,” Josh confides. He’s never said anything about what happened that Christmas, though no-one could think it went well, not with the mood Magneto had been in after. “They – I think if we just wait – they’ll find their way back to each other. Until then – you guys are the ones in danger, you’re the ones who need my help.”

“You really think they could work together again?” Angel asks ( _a seventeen year-old_ ). Josh shrugs.

“I think they both want it more than they want to admit,” he says, eyes shadowed.

 _That’s a good way of putting it_ , Angel reflects. She wants it more than she wants to admit too.

 **vii.**

 _An extract from the diaries of Charles Xavier._

What could he be thinking? No, I know of course. It’s not that I don’t agree with some of Erik’s rhetoric – I believe we should be able to walk freely and openly in human society and of course I would like the anti-mutants attacks to stop, but to threaten harm, whether Erik believes it justified or not, , how can that be the way forwards? I felt Shaw’s death, every excruciating moment of it, how can Erik inflict that on others so easily?

He would tell me that he is a weapon, and that he cannot deny his nature. It frustrates me so much that I know him well enough to hear these words in his voice, ~~that I hear his voice so easily~~ , that I know him so well and yet not at all. If I was to be honest with myself I would admit that there were corners of Erik’s mind I consciously chose not to see, the seething distrust of humanity installed by the hands of the Nazis, that I accepted as a matter of course. ~~I cannot face being wrong about Erik because then I could be wrong about everything.~~

Arrogance, Erik called it in his more spiteful moments. The arrogance of my position in society and thus my inability to see beyond my own beliefs. ~~I miss our discussions~~ ~~I miss him~~ Perhaps I am beginning to understand him. I keep coming back to how wrongly I have treated Raven’s mutation; trying to normalise her appearance, forcing her into a mould I created in what I thought was an effort to protect her. ~~Now that my own appearance is considered abnormal by society~~ That behaviour is perhaps excusable in a child who is desperate to care for the girl he found in his kitchen – but in an adult, perhaps it is inexcusable.

I see that Erik is calling himself Magneto – I wonder if Raven was aware of what she was doing when she named us, she seems to have created roles for us to fit in to – I teach more than I ever have, now, and Alison and Ororo call me Professor X without any of the ~~boys~~ young men mentioning it. Magneto is such a name for a leader like Erik, his power and charisma captured in one word. By naming us did Raven set us upon our paths?

Reading that last paragraph back I realise that the bottle of whiskey beside me is half again more empty than it was when I ~~sat down~~ started work this evening. I really should go to bed – we are determined to find Alex’s brother with Cerebro in the morning.

Perhaps I will tear this page out in the morning, rather than face any truths I may have inadvertently exposed. Perhaps I will not

 _On the next page, spotted with what looks like whiskey stains, scrawled messily:_

I miss him more than I can bear.

 **viii.**

 _Havok,_

 _I’m glad that my brother is finding more mutants for the school. It might not be the right place for me but I know it can be the right place for so many others. I hope your brother is one of the people he finds._

 _Has Banshee tried any of those embarrassing moves on the girl, yet? ~~I want to ask you what she can do but I know that I shouldn’t~~ Oh, I know – I bet he’s asked if she wants to go flying with him. He tried that on me, once ~~I really don’t know how he missed how I feel, felt, feel about Hank~~ , I felt a little bad when I turned him down. He makes the most adorable faces._

 _There are other mutants here too ~~I can’t tell you what they can do~~ and sometimes I still can’t believe it. It was me and Charles for so long and even though Charles always thought there was more of us, you know how hard we can be to find. It seems like the whole Hellfire Club is made up of mutants ~~wouldn’t Moira be surprised?~~ and a lot of them are like Emma; too much money and not enough sense. They remind me of the kind of people Charles’ mother had for friends, I never liked them._

 _There are a few that are okay, though, younger people like us. ~~Berto~~ Sunspot is one of them, you should see what he can do. Charles would be amazed by the abilities I’ve seen. Our people are amazing, Havok, can you imagine the world we could build together?_

 _Make fun of Banshee for me, okay, he deserves it. ~~I hope you and Darwin can~~_

 _Mystique_

Alex is nervous as hell. He’s been driving since he was old enough to borrow his parents’ car but he’s not licensed. Charles told him it would be fine, that he’d just wiggle his fingers and make any problems go away, but it doesn’t stop Alex from twitching every time he sees something black and white from the corner of his eye.

Charles has finally found what he believes to be Scott with Cerebro – Alex hopes to God that it is Scott, if it’s Gabriel they’re driving into a whole lot of trouble. He’d hoped that the Blandings would’ve been able to tell him something, anything, but he supposes it’s not that surprising they didn’t bother replying to his letter. He let them down and God knows he didn’t deserve anything from them.

Scott had been able to send him precisely one letter while Alex was in jail, telling him that his current foster family had decided to adopt him, but he hadn’t been allowed to put a return address on it by the same family. Alex clenches his fingers about the steering wheel and tries to breathe.

“Please try to calm down,” Charles says from the passenger seat, his tone light. “The old girl has always preferred a light touch.”

The ‘old girl’ is Charles father’s Oldsmobile (his actual father, not the step-father that Raven had only mentioned once and there was no sign of in the mansion) and Alex really can’t believe that Charles is letting him drive it. It’s a beautiful car and Alex only tends to destroy beautiful things.

“Alex, please,” Charles taps a finger against his temple. “We’ve talked about the fatalism.”

“I know, Prof – Charles,” the ‘professor’ is starting to become a true tic, even Sean’s starting to say it. “I’m just –”

“Nervous,” Charles says for him. “Understandably so. It’s been some time since you last saw your brother.”

Since the time Gabriel’s destructive ability got all three of them split across three different orphanages. They’d been lucky that Alex and Scott were so well thought of that they were allowed to stay in touch. Alex desperately tries to keep the thought quiet and Charles frowns the way he does when he knows someone is hiding something from him but won’t break his moral code in order to find out.

(Considering some of the stories Raven had told them about Charles in Oxford Alex was a little surprised to find that Charles _had_ a moral code.)

“The Blandings didn’t like me writing to him but they couldn’t stop it,” Alex says for something to say. “And when I went to jail I couldn’t write to him at all. What if this Essex family did something to him? I only heard from him once.”

“He seemed perfectly fine,” Charles reaches across and pats him on the arm. “Please don’t worry.”

“But New York,” Alex says, hitting the steering wheel with a fist. “Why would he be in New York? His foster family were from Alaska.”

“Perhaps they are simply on holiday,” Charles says. “I believe New York is a rather popular destination.”

“It doesn’t feel right,” Alex mutters and Charles sighs,

“Well, we will see when we find him,” he says, folding his hands in his lap. “He’s on the edge of my range now, it shouldn’t be too hard to find him.”

\--

Scott is not with his family when they find him under a bridge in Central Park. He’s skinny, _too skinny_ , and he has a blindfold tied tightly across his eyes and Alex spares a brief moment to be grateful that it is Scott rather than Gabriel before given in to his horror.

“Scott,” he can barely form the word, his heart still in his chest. The boy turns his head at Alex’s voice.

“It’s definitely him,” Charles takes two fingers away from his temple, his face incredibly sad.

“A–Alex?” Scott asks, tilting his head. His voice sounds dry with ill-use and Alex is moving forward before he can stop himself, stooping and wrapping his arms around his brother.

“It’s me, Scotty, it’s me,” Alex says, over and over again. “I’m here.”

Scott shakes in his arms, _skin and bones_ , and what happened to him, why is he here, what the hell is going on. _Calm your mind, Alex, you’ll overwhelm the boy,_ Charles’ voice is soothing against his swirling thoughts.

“Alex,” Scott says again when Alex releases the hug. He leaves his hands on Scott’s shoulders, as if Scott will disappear if he lets go. “I never thought I’d see you again. Well – see is a relative term about now.”

“What happened?” Alex asks, unable to stop himself. The hint of a smile that had been hovering about Scott’s lips fades.

“I – it’s a long story,” Scott turns his head towards Charles. “Who’s your friend?”

“Charles Xavier,” Charles rolls forward and extends a hand to take one of Scott’s into his own. “A pleasure to meet you at last.”

“Are you one of us?” Scott asks and Alex almost wants to shake them both for talking so normally.

“One of –” Charles chuckles. “Yes, yes I am.”

“When did this happen,” Alex talks over the top of whatever Scott was about to say. He touches the blindfold and Scott jerks away, as if his touch burns.

“Don’t –” Scott’s hands come up defensively and Alex backs off, holding his hands up in surrender even though Scott can’t see them. “It’s – it’s dangerous.”

“I think his control may be less than yours,” Charles says quietly. “From what I’m seeing at least.”

“What do you mean, ‘see’?” Scott asks, turning towards Charles’ voice again.

“Telepath,” Charles says, carelessly, and Alex is still more than a little amazed that he knows this guy. “So many of your thoughts float to the surface, Scott, it’s quite noisy.”

Scott laughs at that and rubs the back of his head. Alex wants to capture the sound of that laugh forever.

“I guess – when you’re on your own a lot you don’t have a reason not to think loudly,” Scott says. “Is that how you found me?”

“That and the help of a rather marvellous machine,” Charles says. “It was built by a very smart friend of mine. In fact, I rather think he could help you with your problem as well.”

“Really?” the hope in Scott’s voice makes him sound much more like the Scott Alex remembers.

“The Professor has a place for us,” Alex says, wincing when Charles frowns at him for saying professor. “People like us. It’s safe there, Scott.”

“Safe,” Scott repeats. “I’ve forgotten what that word sounds like.”

“You’d be very welcome, Scott,” Charles says, taking Scott’s hand again.

“You really mean safe,” Scott says, turn back to Alex. “Safe from _everything_?”

Alex knows what Scott’s asking and he hates himself. He knows he has to lie because he’s certain that if Gabriel wanted to hurt them he could – he’s not even sure if Charles and Erik together could have stopped him. With just one of them –

“It’s safe,” he lies, nodding to himself as if saying it enough will make it true.

“Then it sounds cool,” Scott says and Alex resists the urge to pick him up out of happiness.

“Excellent,” Charles says, clapping his hands together. “I’m certain that two Summers brothers under one roof is a fantastic idea.”

Scott falls in beside Alex, a hand occasionally touching Alex’s arm, as they follow Charles back through Central Park. Alex bumps Scott with a shoulder.

“You will tell me eventually, won’t you?” Alex asks. “What happened.”

“Yeah,” Scott says after a moment, letting out a breath. “I promise.”

“Cool,” Alex says, resolving not to push.

“The Professor doesn’t know, does he?” Scott asks after a few more steps. Alex freezes briefly. “About Gabriel.”

“No,” Alex shakes his head. “And he’s not going to.”

“But maybe he could help,” Scott says, spreading his hands.

“He would think he could,” Alex almost snaps. “But he wouldn’t. No-one can help Gabriel.”

“He’s still our brother –” Scott says and Alex does stop this time. Scott stops too, after a few more steps, and turns to him.

“No. No he isn’t, Scott,” Alex says. “He doesn’t have the right. Not after what he did.”

“But it was so long ago –” Scott starts and Alex interrupts him.

“Who do you think was responsible for me going to jail?” Alex says, sounding calmer than he feels. Scott’s mouth opens and shuts a few times.

“You never said,” he says finally.

“Because you – you’re exactly like Charles,” Alex says, throwing his arms up. “You want to see the best in people – you would’ve tried to talk to him and he would’ve hurt you. No-one else is getting hurt because of me. The Professor doesn’t find out about Gabriel. No-one does.”

“Okay, okay,” Scott makes ‘calm down’ gestures with his hands. “I won’t say anything.”

This time Alex falls into step with Scott, letting Scott use him as a guide whenever he feels the need, and they walk in silence as they try to catch up with Charles. Alex always forgets how fast Charles can move out in the open.

“Alex,” Scott says quietly and this time the tug on Alex’ arm is to get his attention.

“Yeah, little brother?” Alex says, savouring the words on his lips.

“Thank you for coming for me,” Scott says, smiling. It’s a bigger, more adult version of the smile he used to show to Alex when they were kids and Alex feels something like tears prickle at the back of his eyes.

He can’t wait to introduce Scott to Darwin – and he really doesn’t want to examine that feeling right now. He’s too happy for that level of confusion.

 **ix.**

 _Extracts: MIS observation report. Stryker, W._

1\. “- appearance in North Salem appears to confirm the theory that Suspect X is residing in the mansion left to him by his parents. We cannot confirm this by sight as agents find it impossible to approach the area the mansion is located in. They report this as ‘an urge to turn away and never return’. We believe this is a security mechanism put in place by Suspect X.

Suggest making the absence of Suspect X contingent to any attempts to infiltrate the mansion now that we are certain he leaves –”

2\. “- where we witnessed Suspect X and Suspect M meeting over a chess board. Utilising the shielding techniques we extracted from Subject F Agent Zero was able to get close enough to record some of their conversation. (See attached transcript: Evidence #1.14)”

3\. Evidence #1.14: Transcript of recording made by Agent Zero.

Suspect M: - it was necessary in order for them to understand the gravity of their actions.

Suspect X: “Them.” Do you hear yourself? It does _not_ have to be a case of us and them

M: They made it into exactly that when they attacked us. Why are you so incapable of seeing that?

X: It was a regrettable action but –

M: Regrettable! It resulted in the loss of your legs.

X: We both know who is truly responsible for that, my friend.

[Silence broken by the sound of chess pieces moving]

M: You’re angry.

X: Damn right, I’m angry! I attempt to teach tolerance and you effectively declare war.

M: They already declared war on us, Charles; on that beach, in New York, London, Beijing.

X: You of all people can surely understand that the majority cannot be blamed for the actions of a few.

M: I condemn the majority when they allow the few to rule them, allow the few to kill our people.

X: I wish I had been able to teach you that the world is not so bad as you see it.

M: And I wish your privilege didn’t prevent you from seeing the world as it truly is. You saw the way some of those mutants looked at us when we spoke to them – they were terrified of what would happen if they exposed themselves.

X: Yes, I recall. Perhaps you recall what I told you then – that the way to fight fear is not with more fear, but with tolerance. If we prove to them that we’re not dangerous –

M: But we are, Charles. The irony of this is that you can’t see this truth: you are the most dangerous of us all.

X: Erik –

M: You walked into their house and showed them how easily you could take their secrets, you froze them in place and erased MacTaggart’s memory. Physically I may be able to extraordinary things – mentally you could rule the world, Charles, and make them want you to do so.

X: Is that truly the way you see me?

M: No. It is the way everyone _else_ sees you.

X: And you, Erik, how do you see me?

[Silence]

M: A man who is infuriatingly incapable of seeing what is before his eyes, who trusts too easily, and too wholly, and wears his heart where all might see it.

X: Erik –

M: I see the man I never wanted to fight and yet will have no choice not to…Checkmate.

X: You don’t have to leave.

M: If I don’t I will do something foolish.

X: I wish you wouldn’t wear that bloody helmet – I can never –

M: It’s for your safety as well as mine. Goodbye, Charles.

[Annotated: Agent Zero stated that here Suspect X stopped Suspect M from leaving with a hand to his wrist. ~~An intimate gesture. Possible legal grounds?~~ ]

X – Be safe, Erik. No matter what else passes between us, I want you to be safe.

M – None of us will be safe until my work is done. The sooner you understand that the sooner we can –

[End transcript. Agent Zero was forced to retreat when noticed by a civilian.]


End file.
